Three years later
by Wormtail96
Summary: Do you really believe that after escaping the Beldam and death, everything in Coraline's life went back to normal? That she was perfectly fine? Me neither. Three years on, the effects of this childhood trauma have reached boiling point for Coraline Jones.


**This story of Coraline is something I've thinking over for a long time. It's really emotional, but it will utterly break your heart. What do you honestly think happened to Coraline after such a traumatising childhood experience? Do you really think everything would have been fine? Me neither. Read on.**

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**Three years later**

It was ready pouring down with rain that February day in the Ashland, Oregon, 2012. A lot of people had gone inside to avoid getting soaked and there were constant warnings of floods. One girl had not gone back to her home. She was instead residing in the small diner on the corner of a street in solitary. Just her and her thoughts.

Coraline Jones, now fourteen-years-old sat in the diner booth positioned right next to the window facing the disrupted open sea. She was dressed in her regular blue jacket, orange shirt, pink skirt, green stockings and sneakers. Her hair was still night blue, but she had done re-dyed it in a while so now her true brown mousy hair was starting to become more and more visible. She could not care less. Coraline's skin had turned extremely pale; rings from lack of sleep accumulated thickly around her eyes and her cute short number of freckles had faded almost entirely. She did not look at all like the Coraline everyone knew when she moved to Ashland two years ago.

Near the window on her table was a metal napkin holder, a foldable menu and the regular bottles of condiments set up next to it. In front of her was a large can of Red Bull and a glass with ice in it. Coraline had finished half the glass and licked the taste of the energy drink from her lips. Outside, she saw few pigeons were squawking loudly as they fought savagely over a wet piece of bread. Listening to the sound of pouring rain would normally relax a person, including Coraline, but not today.

This was one of those times of the year when the girl was a sour recluse; keeping to herself and mumbling only a few words when she spoke to others. She was hurting inside badly, but no one knew why and never dared asked. They thought it best just to leave her be until she plucked up slightly again and things went back to normal.

Coraline was not a bad person. She came across to a lot of people nowadays as at best proud and aloof and at worst a bully. But passed all that she was just a sad, unhappy girl; not only struggling with the trials of growing up but other deep issues that she would not tell anyone, not even her parents. Unfortunately today, Coraline had broken that temporary habit of keeping to herself when she just lost it and exploded at her friends back in town. She had been keeping all this mysterious anger inside so long that she blew up and went as far as punching Brittney Donovan square in the nose, breaking it. She ran off after that and went into the diner to avoid the oncoming rain and get a drink. Of course Coraline regretted what she did and knew that she would have to apologise. Yet, she was more dreading facing her parents whenever she decided to return home. She had gone out without their permission and their aggravation would turn to anger once they found she broke Brittney's nose.

The doors of the diner opened silently and in walked a man, tall and pale. He was dressed in a black suit and bowler hat. Looking around, he saw Coraline and approached her table.

He sat down in the booth in the chair opposite Coraline so he could face her. Coraline did not seem to take notice of him at first but then lifted her head and looked at him in his large electric blue eyes.

"Hello, Kat?"

Of course Coraline knew it was him. Kat, the feral black cat that unofficially belonged to Wybie Lovat, Coraline's only real friend. She knew those eyes anywhere and narled right ear anywhere.

It was only confirmed when the man talked in that deep voice of his. "I could not come in here as you would normally see me. The owner of this diner does not like cats much and this is the only way I can really talk to you." Coraline had talked to him like this before, but only a couple of times.

There was a silence in which Coraline drunk her Red Bull and Kat sat silently in his chair with his hands held together.

Kat broke the silence. "How are you, Coraline?"

"What do you think?"

"Not good?"

"That's one way of putting it." Coraline tapped the bottom of her glass against the table a couple of times. "It's that time again. I can't keep going on like this, Kat."

Kat closed his eyes and shook his head. "It's been three years, Coraline."

Coraline put her elbow on the table. "But I can't stop thinking about it." She rested her head in her palm. "Every time I try to sleep, I see her. I see the needles. I see the buttons. The rats, the house, the ghost children. It's the same dream every night. The first time, I woke up screaming and after the thirtieth…all I do is just lay in my bed and cry myself back to sleep."

"Haven't you told your parents?"

"I did once. They just shrugged it off as just a silly dream and that it would soon go away like any other." She sighed sadly, thinking back to her mother and father at home, typing away at their computers as always and not paying any heed to their daughter. "What would you have me do, Kat? Try and tell them what happened three years ago. If I had done that when I was eleven, they'd think I was just making up stories. If I told then now…they'd just think I was nuts."

"So I suppose seeing a psychiatrist is out of the question then?" He tapped his chin.

"One, it's too expensive and two, it's not like it's all in my head. It happened, Kat!" Coraline buried her face in her hands and whimpered, "I can't even go into the living room anymore 'cause the door's there."

He responded sarcastically, "What? You're afraid she's gonna come bursting through with needles in her hands?"

Coraline banged her hands against the table. "You don't understand, Kat! But how could you possibly? It didn't happen to you, it happened to ME!" She grabbed the sides of her head as if there were spikes sticking out from it. "My life has been nothing but a living hell these last three years! I've been doing crap at school, hell, I've been bunking for the last three months. I was even suspended for beating that punk kid half to death with a fire extinguisher! And my parents…I can't even stand being in the same room as them anymore!"

Picking up the can of Red Bull, Kat looked inside it. "I know. I saw what happened a week ago. You punched your mother in the FACE!"

"I can't tell you how long I've been waiting to do that." Coraline smug expression faded immediately and she said with a breaking voice, "Kat, I..I-I just don't know how long I can cope anymore. I've got NOTHING! I got away from the Other Mother and she still ruined my life!" Coraline began crying into her hands, tears pouring through her fingers.

Taking a handkerchief out from his breast pocket, Kat gave it to her so she could wipe the tears away.

Once she had calmed down, Coraline started speaking again, through a shaking voice, "Do you know what I did last Friday night? I tried to cut myself!"

"Seriously?"

"I stopped myself at the last minute, but that's not the point." She looked up at the ceiling and gave out a deep exhale. "Look, long story short, I…my life hasn't been turning out as I wanted it. I just don't want to continue it if this is what it has to offer." She looked back, tears falling down her reddened cheeks. "All this would only make sense…if I was a bad person…but I'm not."

Kat looked at her in silence for a moment, took a sip out of the can and spoke to her again. "Tell me something…have you really had enough, Coraline? You don't want to grow up and face the kind of world that someone with such a traumatising childhood would face? Do you want to stop?"

"…yes."

"Then close your eyes…and count to three."

Coraline did as she was told. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and began counting calmly.

"1...

…2...

…3."

She opened her eyes. She was no longer in the diner and Kat was no longer sitting in front of her. In fact, Coraline not in Ashland or even Oregon anymore. She was somewhere completely different.

It was a beautiful park. There hundreds of trees were abundant with fresh healthy leaves, daises decorated the lush green grass and blue birds were twittering up in the clear blue sky. It was such a beautiful place. The kind you would see in a spring holiday catalogue.

Coraline basked in the warmth and light, taking in deep breaths of the spring. She then heard laughter and looked to her right to see a red ball bouncing along the grass towards her until it finally reached her feet. She raised her head to see a little girl running up to her from the same direction which the ball came. Coraline recognized her immediately.

It was her, except when she was six-years-old. She was wearing the little stripped shirt, blue suspenders and those adorable little pink shoes. Her mousy brown hair, not yet dyed blue was done up into two messy pigtails.

They both looked at each other for a moment and Coraline kneeled down to pick up the ball. She handed it back to her younger self, who took it back with a smile, spun on her heels and ran off back to her parents beyond the maze of trees. The little child was gone in a blink of an eye.

Coraline watched her younger self go with a smile and glistening eyes. "So long…little me." She heard another noise and looked to her left at the sidewalk and road where the park ended. There was a sign that said 'Bus Stop' and Coraline walked up onto the sidewalk underneath it.

A yellow bus came into view and drove along the road until it slowed down and stopped in front of Coraline. The doors of the bus opened and she looked up to see Kat sitting there in the driver's seat.

Taking a cigarette from his mouth, Kat looked down at Coraline and said to her softly, "It is time to go, Coraline."

Without hesitation, Coraline climbed the steps of the bus and gave Kat the ticket she knew was in her pocket. She then walked down the bus aisle, looking for a seat.

The seats of the bus were filled with people, mostly young kids, teenagers and young adults. All of them looked sad and pale, like walking corpses. Coraline found a seat and sat down. She turned her head and looked at a miserable-looking girl with long black hair and skin as wait as paper. The girl looked up and they stared at each other for a short moment before both turning away.

Coraline, at peace, rested her back in the soft chair, looking out into space as the bus started moving once again. It drove off down the road and quickly vanished from sight.

The park returned to serene silence once more, now only disrupted by the innocent twittering of the blue birds.

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**(A/N) The ending is very metaphorical and symbol. I'm not gonna tell you here what happened to Coraline, I'm going to leave it up to your reading comprehension skills. Feel free to take a guess in your reviews. If you are right or wrong, I will note you with the answer regardless. I just want to see if you can figure it out for yourselves.**


End file.
